Sakura's Always Been There
by Tiger Priestess
Summary: Sakura tends to an unconscious and wounded Sasuke, leaving only when Team Hebi is close. Sasuke though learns from an older couple that he was saved by a girl with pink hair and green eyes. SasuSaku one-shot


**Sakura's Always Been There**

**Full Summary****: Sakura tends to an unconscious and wounded Sasuke, leaving only when Team Hebi is close. Sasuke though learns from an older couple that he was saved by a girl with pink hair and green eyes, in denial, Juugo tells him they're right, and a necklace reveals the truth… SasuSaku one-shot**

**I had this idea in mind but have never thought about doing it until now. This happens before Sasuke kills Itachi and the current manga, which is ticking me off. I hope you enjoy it though and it has a twist.**

~)(~

Sakura watched from the shelter of the trees. Apprehension filled the air around her as she watched the fight before her. She was on a solo mission, which was traveling to a small village in Waterfall to provide medical care to those who were deathly ill. She had been gone just over a month when she was returning. The sight of disturbed earth and burn marks caused her to stop and observe the area for potential danger. It was shortly after looking around she felt a burst of chakra, one that she recognized but had changed. Rushing to where the chakra signature was she also felt another.

As she drew closer she jumped to hide in the trees, shielded from view. Having already had her chakra masked when she left the village, she hoped they were too engrossed in the fight to have noticed her.

Watching anxiously, she saw him. Sasuke Uchiha. She hadn't heard about him for a while. He was the same as she saw him in Orochimaru's hideout months ago. She looked over at the other man he was fighting. He was older, at least in his forties. Brown hair covering his eyes, the medic even wondered if he could see through his unruly mane. Thin lips, the lower lip marked with a scar that ran down his chin. He was fit for the life of a shinobi and you could see he had fought many battles and survived. Sakura couldn't hear what the two were talking about but she could see the man grin cockily and Sasuke's expression harden, eyes narrowing dangerously. Slowly he reached behind him and pulled out his katana, the one the medic remembered so well from the previous few months. The memory had pained her greatly. _'We are no longer friends in his eyes…' _If she could, she would forget all about him, all the pain he had done to them… to her… but that was impossible. Bonds that were so strong cannot be broken so easily, at least to those who searched high and low for this boy who attacked the man before her. His seemed to have been broken, when Naruto was brought back after the Valley of the End.

She watched as they gave each other bone crushing blows and blocked attacks, dodged ninjutsu. The man Sasuke was fighting was fast, perhaps faster than Sasuke, if that was possible. He seemed to know what an Uchiha was capable of and avoided the Sharingan that Sasuke had activated. _'Please don't see me…' _the kunoichi silently begged, the famous Uchiha bloodline limit would surely give away her position.

For a long time, she watched, the sun hitting the center of the sky. The two men had ended up moving from the middle of the forest to a river, the water loud and a waterfall about ten yards away. Worried jade eyes watched as she could feel their chakra waning down. She prayed silently that Sasuke would be alright, even if he didn't know she was there, caring for him. Not that he cared anymore, she was a nuisance, she was… annoying. Her eyes fell to the ground about twenty feet below the branch she was on. The riverbed became trampled dirt as the two fought hard to end the life of the other. However, the man seemed to have more stamina than the teen, his experience making him knowledgeable. With the right words, Sasuke was blinded with rage, rage that will cloud ones' mind of proper judgment. The man knew this and used it to his advantage, should Sasuke live through this it would be a good lesson to learn.

That is why there is a rule to hide your emotions, not because they make you weak, but because it will be your downfall should one discover how to make you reckless.

Finally after hours of battling, the man had Sasuke closer to the rivers' edge, his hands griping the younger males' hands as he blocked punches. Both were low on chakra, not enough for any ninjutsu, just barely enough to sustain life. Now, Sakura could hear the words spoken, "You really are a fool," the man said, "the most foolish of all Uchiha."

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I know more about the Sharingan than you know, boy." He smirked cockily at the teen. "Too bad your life will end here," Sasuke's muscles were becoming paralyzed, and he began panting lightly. "Do you feel it now? The poison?" he didn't look at the man, just tried to hold him off and think of something to end this. "You will die, and not even the best medic could save you."

With all the energy Sasuke could muster, he sent chakra surging through is body and into the man's who let out a yelp before he released the Uchiha and fell to the ground, dead. The dark haired boy's eyes closed as he fell back the sound of rushing water coming closer and he could have sworn he heard a voice shout his name before he crashed into the water and was unable to see or hear anything.

"Sasuke!!" Sakura shouted as she watched him plunge into the river, running to catch him and jumping into the water to get to him before he fell over the large waterfall that was so close.

She grabbed him just before they went over she suppressed a scream and held onto him tighter, not willing to let him go. Even as she tried to find her kunai pouch to execute an idea, she realized she must have lost it as she dove in after Sasuke. She embraced him closer and kept his head above the water as best as she could. Crashing down she lost her grip and when she resurfaced she searched for him frantically, everything playing in slow motion since Sasuke had killed the man.

She found him as he went back under. Taking a deep breath she followed, _'Sasuke!' _Under the water he looked so lifeless; his features were peaceful, however, despite the situation. Stretching a hand out she grabbed his and with all the effort she could she pulled him up to her, her lungs now screaming for air, and wrapped an arm around his waist and swam up to the surface. The current was strong but she refused to give up and she stroked toward the river bank. Her breathing was heavy and she looked at the unconscious Sasuke in her arms and swam harder. _'I don't care if you hate me; no longer think of me as a friend, I'm not going to let you die…'_ Upon reaching land she dragged him up his feet still in the water as she laid him on the flat of his back. Quickly she placed her right ear to his chest, the white cloth of his shirt barely on him, giving her a great view of his muscles that he had gained with his training. Sakura though, didn't notice, to busy looking for a heartbeat, one she found, but it was faint… and he wasn't breathing!

"No Sasuke!" she told him softly, her voice frantic. She tilted his head back to open the air passage having already put him on leveled ground. Covering his nose she leaned down and placed her lips to his, giving him a precious gift, the breath of life. She pulled up, "Don't die…" and she leaned down again for another kiss of life. In her head, she knew this would be the only time she would get this close to him, now that he has changed so drastically and no longer recognizes friends. This would be the only time she would kiss him, but she wanted it to be the other way, not trying to revive him but because she loved him after all this time, and she wanted him to kiss her when he was conscious… and because he loved her. _'That will never happen.' _

She pulled away when the boy started gasping for breath. His eyes flickered open and closed, never noticing her presence, which she was grateful for. He remained lying down and tried catching his breath and falling into a light slumber. The medic began healing his wounds after closing his shirt, none were fatal, but she found a poison that the man had used which paralyzed Sasuke. The Uchiha was healed in three minutes and she watched him. _'He will always be handsome.' _She placed a hand lightly on the side of his face, and blinked when he unconsciously leaned into its warmth. _'If only you knew how much this hurts me, Sasuke.' _Tears were beginning to form in her eyes and she stroked his face with her thumb, then she felt three chakra signatures approaching.

"Sasuke?" a girls' voice startled her and she pulled her hand back but stayed in her position. She had a little bit of time before they got here.

'_So Sasuke, you have others with you? You've replaced us?' _The tears threatening to fall, she looked down at him, slowly she leaned down and gave him a soft kiss to his lips, reluctantly she pulled back. "I'm sorry Sasuke, for taking advantage of you… my heart will belong to no one else… even if you forget me, like I'm sure you have." She vanished shortly after, watching many yards away as a group came out the other way, one red head girl with glasses, a boy with a large sword that looked familiar with white hair and another boy with orange hair who all gathered around the Uchiha. Now time seemed to go back at its normal pace.

"Sasuke! Oh Sasuke wake up!" the girl cried frantically by his side. Sakura watched, with pain stabbing her in the heart, watching this, she really did feel replaced. She could see the girl was smitten with him, just like most girls seemed to be.

"Shut up Karin, no one wants to hear your loud mouth for your precious Sasuke." Said the white haired man, annoyed. Sakura watched the two bicker, more pain ebbed, it was just like Team 7 all over again…

Unable to take anymore, she left with the stealth of a ninja. "Good-bye Sasuke."

Juugo, who had three birds on his hand, had known there was a girl close by, but said nothing. He noticed Karin didn't bother saying anything, either she was too worried for their leader, or the girl was extremely good at hiding her chakra from a tracker-nin.

Sasuke sat up in an upright position, his body not aching like he thought it would, but he ignored it. He blinked, remembering what the man said about poison. "Shut up." He ordered, getting the two to stop and look at him. Karin was at his side again, in his much liked personal space. "Did one of you pull me out of the water?" the three looked at him, then at each other.

The orange haired boy was going to say no when someone beat him to it. "It was a girl," said an unfamiliar voice. All four looked at an elderly couple, both seniors from their white hair, wrinkled faces and discolored skin.

"What girl?!" Karin demanded, earning a 'be quiet' by Sasuke.

"Yeah, what girl?" Suigetsu asked, now curious as to who would save Sasuke's life.

"We were taking a walk by the river when we saw you and the man finish your battle. You were falling into the water and we were trying to help you when someone shouted and a girl around your age with pink hair jumped in after you. By the time we arrived at the edge of the waterfall she was giving you CPR and healing you, we walked around and I don't see her anywhere." The old man looked around.

Karin was fuming, she should have been the one to revive Sasuke, and then he would have thanked her for saving him. He would also tell her how much he loved her! It should have been her, not some other girl who didn't know Sasuke like she did!

"She was a beautiful girl, pink hair and green eyes, she was worried for you." The woman commented, with a nod.

Karin just had insults in mind for the mystery girl. "Beautiful? Please, she's probably slept with every boy in her village and goes around trying to go to other villages and sleep with them. Who has pink hair, other than a circus freak? She's probably got every disease there is known to man and animal!"

'…_Sakura…' _Sasuke didn't believe it, ignoring the jibes Karin came up with about Sakura, though his chest ached for some unknown reason when she was insulted. She would be in Konoha, or trying to chase him around. If she was here then wouldn't she have dragged him back in his weak state? It couldn't have been her, besides, don't old people see things? "Hn." He slowly stood up, still skeptical.

"Didn't she say, 'No Sasuke'?" the woman asked again, "I think I also heard a 'Don't die' in there somewhere."

"I think you're right, though I don't know what she said." Her husband answered.

Sasuke's ears picked up on the elderly couples' conversation, but ignored the feeling he was getting. "Are you sure you weren't hearing and seeing things?" he asked, he was taught to respect his elders, though he rarely applied it.

"Yeah," Karin said, "aren't you exaggerating?"

The couples' soured at her words. "Any shinobi, retired or still in the business should always be observant. You're a tracker that much we can see, but you did not sense the girls' whereabouts when she was right in front of you. Even with our experience we did not know she was there." The man said.

"You were given a poison, weren't you?" the woman eyed the Uchiha. Juugo and the elders knew of Sasuke's surprise, "I used to be a medic-nin and know the techniques to extract poisons when I see them." She said convincingly. "She was clearly a medic-nin, her head band of the Leaf Village." Sasuke was trying with everything in his power to not believe a word of it, but he was failing badly.

"Sasuke," said boy looked at Juugo, "they are right," he motioned to the birds on his arm and he looked to the couple, asking, "Scarlet karate suit and a white circle on her back?"

'_He wouldn't know what she wore or her symbol…' _Sasuke watched the elderly nod.

"Yes, I believe that was Haruno. Sakura Haruno. Funny thing we didn't realize it was her." The avengers' heart clenched as the man continued. "We went to Konoha recently when my wife was diagnosed with cancer, Dr. Haruno was her doctor. We had learned from nurses that she was trained under the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Everyone believes she's going to surpass her in time."

"I'm now living cancer free, she's a miracle worker." The woman replied, showing how grateful she really was. "Oh, I also believe this was yours." She had Sasuke's katana in her hands, no one noticing it until now, he took it from her. He still chose not to believe it, not unless he had proof. As if reading his thoughts, "We also found this." In her hand was a necklace, one the Uchiha could recognize. He had given it to her as a birthday present. It was just a simple silver chain with a pink cherry blossom on it. Looking on the back he found the short message that read.

_From Sasuke_

It was hers.

'_It couldn't have been her.'_

Karin harshly yanked it from the woman's hand an inspected it, finding the message on the back, she was furious, so there was another girl who knew Sasuke first. Hatefully, she tossed it over her shoulder and to the not so calm river. The elderly were appalled that she could be so cruel, but Karin didn't care. Sasuke didn't let it show that he was in an internal debate with himself, and the gift he had bought her had actually cost quite a bit, he didn't tell anyone what it was worth, far more than any other gift he got for anyone. It was his secret and he recalled the smile Sakura had given him when he gave it to her. She hadn't asked for any gift from him, just dates, nothing material and the first thing he had given her, she glowed. It was just a distant memory now, but it was a memory no less. And he could see that Karin was shaking with jealousy and if a bird hadn't caught the necklace before it hit the water, he wouldn't know what to think. Sasuke actually didn't know what to think with this whole situation. He and his team should just leave, but he would have drowned if it wasn't for her…he found himself confronted with emotions long time ago hidden and supposedly severed.

She had always seemed to be there when he was in danger.

The Chunnin Exams…

She was always worried for his wellbeing and he had always pushed it aside as if it were nothing.

Sasuke took the jewelry from the bird stuffing it in his pockets as if it was nothing of importance. No matter how much he tried to shake the thought, his heart ached when he attempted to deny it.

"You were lucky she saved you," the woman said. "Not that she would let you die."

"What do you mean by that?" Suigetsu asked.

Sasuke was curious, but hid it well, pretending to care less. The woman looked him square in the eye, she was not afraid. "I've seen the look before." Leaving all confused. What look? What was she talking about? "It's time we leave, glad you're alright."

The two left the four speechless. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Karin yelled at the top of her lungs which got her and Suigetsu into another argument.

Juugo was talking to the birds and casting glances at the Uchiha, who he could tell was having an internal debate. He had ordered Karin and Suigetsu to go somewhere if they were going to argue, the girl was about to stop and sit by Sasuke's side when the boy kept infuriating her, causing her to chase him intent on ending his life.

The dark haired shinobi massaged his temples, a headache having already formed. "Sasuke," the quiet boy said when they were left alone, but could still hear the other two quarrelling over something trivial, "she is not far ahead."

He tilted his head up, expression unreadable. Irritated with the louder ones of his group he sighed and stood up, "I'm going for a walk, have camp ready for the night." He disappeared, following the bird that Juugo had sent after the girl.

~)(~

It hadn't taken him very long to find her, even with the little chakra he had left. Her chakra was well masked and he would have missed her if the bird wasn't leading him, his chakra had been masked as well so she wouldn't know he was following her. Soft pink hair and her scarlet clothes were damp from head to toe, only proving that she had jumped into the river after him. The kunai pouch that should have been on her right leg was gone, leaving her unarmed without a weapon. She was traveling slowly, walking on the forest floor, seemingly lost in thought. He followed her for about an hour and there was no change in her pace; she gave off the aura of something he wasn't sure of.

He heard her give a long sigh as she pulled her hand to her neck as she continued on. He was getting tired of being unnoticed and landed on the ground and letting her feel his chakra slightly. Watching her stop he waited, she didn't seem surprised, her back didn't even tense or give an indication she knew who it was, she was relaxed, though her posture told him that something wasn't right with her.

She still hadn't turned around after two minutes, and Sasuke was feeling uneasy with her odd behavior, back at Orochimaru's hideout she was more talkative and expressive with her feelings. Now he wasn't sure what was wrong, though he remained impassive throughout the time he had been following her.

For the first time, Sasuke was uncomfortable with the silence. "Sakura." He said, her name rolling off his tongue just like it had years ago. When he said it this time, however, it felt different to him.

Slowly, ever so slowly she turned to her right, the side of her body shown to the boy. Her soft green eyes locked to his dark onyx ones; there was something there, something he had seen time and time again. Though, now he couldn't place it. He was the first to look away as he surveyed her more closely, the first time in years, in the hideout he didn't spare her a glance. But now, for the first time, he could see the physical changes. She still had a small frame, the same yet different. Toned muscle with more training.

Without so much as a word, she turned and started walking again. This had taken the Uchiha by surprise and he actually showed it, and no one had seen it.

Swiftly, he was in front of her, not taking her by surprise. She knew he was fast and would have walked into him if she didn't stop. Her eyes sparing him a brief glance before she started to walk around him, which he had taken a step to the side to stop her again. "Why do you bother coming after me if you no long have any bonds?" she asked, startling Sasuke with her question, one he didn't know the answer to. But she was so different from the last couple months.

He remained silent.

Sakura walked passed him without being stopped. Sasuke wasn't sure how to continue, but his heart was nagging at him to speak to her before she was gone. He turned to watch her as he thought. "Why did you save me?" his question didn't make her stop, instead she answered it with another.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Answer me!" he ordered, getting angry. This time she stopped.

"Your bonds with anyone related to the Leaf are broken, you told us that a few months ago." She looked over her shoulder. "We are nothing of importance to you, so why act as if you care if I saved your life? That would make you a hypocrite, Sasuke."

Her back met a tree and her arms were pinned to her sides, katana to her throat. "Answer," he growled, looking down at her.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" she knew what he would do. "Go ahead, kill me. It didn't stop you from trying already."

"I'll kill you if you don't answer."

The medic huffed, "What should I care?" she looked down, missing a flash of something flicker in two dark eyes. "You've already killed me, not that you care."

Ignoring her he pressed the katana harder to her throat, not about to draw blood, but she was pushing him. "Answer me."

"And what does it matter anyway?!" she shouted, "You'll just kill me after, I mean nothing to you, never had, never will! Why bother acting like I did? For giving me false hope that I did, maybe for a moment. Go on, kill me, I know you want to, to get my annoying self out of your way for good."

Sasuke stayed silent, what was wrong with her. "You've killed me the day you left, killed me again when we found you at Orochimaru's hideout and said we were nothing to you…" she was beginning to sniffle. "You killed me again today, after finding out that you had replaced us… replaced us with others who act like we did when we were a team… We're nothing to you and you find others to travel with you. Are they better than us Sasuke? Are they able to make a better team than Naruto, Kakashi and I could have?" Unconsciously the boy had released his hold on her and removed his sword and sheathed it, his eyes watching her break down in front of him.

"I watched your battle with that man, you killed him and I acted on impulse to save you, I couldn't let you die. When I got you to land, your heart was barely beating, but you weren't breathing," she didn't have the courage to look at him, knowing he would be repulsed by the fact that she had to do mouth to mouth. Sasuke had thought there was something going on, but was unable to comprehend what it was he was so out of it. "After you started breathing, I extracted the poison the man used on you to paralyze your muscles. I stayed with you until I heard a girl call your name, and watched the way they acted together. And that's all there was to it."

Minutes followed, so she had saved him. He didn't show what he was feeling, and he had never thought about it that Karin and Suigetsu acted like Naruto and Sakura years ago. Sakura was trying her best to hide her tears, but failed and she walked passed Sasuke once more, he grabbed her wrist, "Let me go!" she cried, still not looking at him.

"Why did you save me?" he asked, trying to get her to look at him.

"I've already told you, your bonds are broken, you don't need to know." She continued to look away.

"Answer." He was getting impatient, finally having enough he grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, she had struggled to look away but his grip was like iron. "Tell me," his tone becoming more frustrated.

"Have you forgotten, Sasuke? I told you years ago…" she looked down as she spoke.

"I don't remember," he answered truthfully.

"That's because your bonds have been broken." She answered with truth of her own.

"Remind me," he looked deep into her green eyes.

They shimmered painfully as she answered, "Because I love you." Sasuke felt something unknown in his stomach. Pulling her head and wrist away, "But that doesn't matter to you, you've already told me what you thought by knocking me out and years later trying to kill me."

That was what was in her eyes, pain, so much pain, but they also held love, love for him, and only him.

As she walked away he realized something.

That Sakura was always there when he needed someone to be.

When he pushed her away, she stayed by his side, even tried to protect him when she wasn't strong enough.

"If you love me, why don't you wear the necklace I gave you?" Sasuke asked, remembering about the jewelry in his pocket.

"I misplaced it."

"Misplaced it, or lost it when you were healing me?" he examined her face when she turned around and found it hanging from his hand.

She looked relieved but that faded and her expression changed to a depressed one. "Perhaps you should give it to the girl on your new team. I'm sure she'd love it," turning away to hide her face.

Remembering the incident earlier, Karin didn't like it because it was from Sasuke to another girl. The way she spoke about Sakura suggested she hated her with a passion. "It belongs to yo—"

"Keep it!" Sakura said quickly, her back to him. "It doesn't belong to me."

"I gav—"

"The bonds we shared are broken! You broke them!" she looked at him. "I won't take it back, I'll tell everyone to stop looking for you, just keep it. What's the point in having it if you don't have the bond with the person who gave it to you? It'd be just false promises.

"I accept the fact you won't come back." She whispered and if Sasuke hadn't moved closer he wouldn't have caught it. "Just go," she pleaded looking at him as he came closer. "I would rather you kill me than play with my heart."

What he did next taken her by surprise. Sasuke grabbed her right hip and placed his right hand to the back of her head, tilting it up so he could give her a kiss, one that she had wanted since forever. _'What is he doing…? Toying with me?' _she balled her right fist and punched him away from her.

Staggering a bit he steadied himself, getting ready to yell at her he stopped when he seen her hunched form, eyes hidden with her pink hair. "I just said don't play with my heart…" she said sourly, "do you enjoy breaking me…?" she looked at him. She resembled a broken doll, her eyes distant. "The only person I want, I can't have and he toys with me as if I'm a puppet one he can throw away when he's done…" she broke down to her knees, hands to her face.

Her body shook as she cried. "I could never hate you when you break me, it hurts too much."

The sight was killing him, for reasons unknown. Perhaps it was because he hadn't broken the bonds he thought he had. _'I can't stand seeing her like this.' _She reminded him of his mother in so many ways. It was like he was hurting his own mother.

Making up his mind, he walked toward her and kneeled down. She tried to scoot away but he wrapped his arms around her tightly, preventing her from escaping. "Don't act—"

"You've always been there for me Sakura; it's time I be there for you." He held the back of her head to his chest with his right hand, his cheek resting on her head. _'The man was right, I have been a fool.' _

Sakura felt something around her neck and pulled away to find the necklace Sasuke had given her back in place. "Wha—"

"It's yours," Sasuke replied, finishing, watching as she played with it.

Tears formed in her eyes, "But I thought we meant nothing to you??"

"I was a fool to think that bonds so strong could be broken so easily. Something I just now realized."

"What will you do now…" she was afraid of the answer.

He pulled her closer, surprising her again, placing his lips to hers and she smiled into his lips but still anxious of his response to her question, _'This could be a distraction.' _Her inner cautioned.

'_I like this distraction then.'_ The teenage boy became more needy put was gentle showing Sakura something she had never know about him. His hand pressed lightly to the small of her back bringing her closer and she tangled her hands in his soft ebony hair, pulling him closer. Their tongues came into play shortly after. Sakura was burning this moment into her brain, for it may never happen again. Sasuke was wondering what had made him realize this; he had cared for Sakura when she was in his team, but what he was feeling now he wasn't sure.

The elder couple, now that he thought about it, he felt like he knew them, though he had never seen them in his life, that he remembered anyway. _'Who were they?' _he shrugged it off, _'I'll think of it later.' _He carried on what he was doing. "We'll discuss that later." He answered her previous question and kissed her again with more vigor.

~)(~

"I think he'll forget revenge," a woman said, watching her husband, watching from the branches above the couple. "Don't you?"

"I believe so," the man nodded, their old forms changing to the ones they had before they were killed. "It's about time Sasuke got over it, what's done is done." His stern eyes fixated on the boy who was with a girl who loved him not because of his clan, but as he was, for himself.

"She would be a fine Uchiha, the grandkids would have good genes, don't you think Fugaku?" the woman asked, the late clan leader nodded. "Sasuke just needed a little push was all, and I knew there was something special about Sakura when I met her all those years ago and it will take a while for Sasuke to realize that. She'll be the one to change him."

"Mikoto, it's time to go, our job is done." Fugaku said, casting one last glance at his son, and most likely future daughter-in-law and mother of his grandchildren before he and his wife were off.

--

**This turned out different than I had originally planned, it even turned out longer. I didn't plan for the elder couple to be Sasuke's parents in disguise, it just turned out like that, but I hope you liked this story. It took me all day to write. Please comment in a review, and let me know if there was something I need to work on. Thanks for reading!**


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